In U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,460, there is disclosed a bagging apparatus for dispensing polyethylene bags or the like arranged in a continuous series over garments hanging from a floating hook arrangement in the apparatus. In said co-pending application, a roll of the polyethylene bags is rotatably supported on the apparatus and the bags are fed to a dispensing device arranged directly above an appropriately supported garment which is to be bagged. The roll of polyethylene bags is provided in a form in which flatted tubing is separated by a series of transverse tear lines which form the separating lines between individual bags. The section of the flatted tubing directly behind the tear line constitutes the mouth or open leading end of one bag, while that section directly in front of the tear line constitutes the trailing or closed end of the next preceding bag. The closed end is achieved by providing a plurality of seams on the tubing. When the bag is pulled down over a garment at the dispensing station, the seams contact the upper portion of the garment and support the bag in surrounding relationship relative to the garment.
The dispensing station of the known apparatus, in which is located a hung garment, is provided with a pair of spreaders which enter into the leading or open end of each bag in order to open the leading end for subsequent placement over the garment. The spreaders enter into the leading end of each bag after the preceding bag has been pulled down over a garment to be bagged so as to set up the next bagging process for a different garment which is substituted at the dispensing station.
The known apparatus is also provided with a sensing device which senses when a bag has been pulled over a garment. The sensing device controls a braking device the activation of which prevents the longitudinal movement of the flatted tubing and thereby allows for the tearing away of the bag draped about the garment at the tear line between it and the trailing bag.
The garment which is to be bagged is hung by a hanger from a floating hook arrangement of the apparatus. Therefore, in order for the bag which is to be draped about the garment to pass by both the spreaders and the floating hook arrangement, the seams constituting the trailing or closed end of each bag have openings therein. These openings are of sufficient width that the two spreaders and the floating hook arrangement can pass therethrough without interference upon the pulling of the associated bag over the garment and can enter into the leading or open end of the next sequential bag.
The floating hook arrangement of the said U.S. Pat. No 3,961,460 is positioned midway between the pair of spreaders, with only the spreaders serving to open up the leading ends of the respective bags. The two spreaders enter the leading end of each bag at the extremities thereof and, as a consequence, it is possible that the center of the bag may not open wide enough to permit complete clearance of the floating hook arrangement, thereby resulting in the plastic bag's being caught at the center thereof on the floating hook arrangement.
Attention may also be directed to related structures shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,181,773; 3,287,881 and 3,308,601 as well as to prior art patents cited therein.